


How We Got Here

by kamala_khan_for_president



Series: Life On The Farm-Verse [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Captain America, Clint Barton's Farm, Everyone Needs A Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Scott and Sam are very confused, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Team as Family, The Raft Prison (Marvel), Wakanda, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-09 09:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11666301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamala_khan_for_president/pseuds/kamala_khan_for_president
Summary: Prequel to Life On The Farm.Set immediately after Steve and Bucky's fight with Tony and covers up to Team Cap arriving at the Barton farm- via Wakanda, a prison break, cryo and a very long quinjet ride





	1. Help From An Unexpected Ally

Steve half carried, half dragged Bucky away from where they had left Tony alone in the snow. He acted like he had a plan and he knew what he was doing next, but in all honesty, he was stuck. Sure, it would be easy enough to just get in the quinjet and fly away, but what about Tony? Where would he go? Steve had destroyed the arc reactor, there was no way that even Tony could fix it now. Despite everything that happened over the past few days, there was no way that Steve could ever leave his friend (if he could even still call him that) to freeze to death in Siberia. Even after what had happened to his team.

His team, that was Steve’s other big problem. What was he was going to do about them? There was no way he could ever leave them, considering they’d chosen to side with him and help him, but he didn’t even know where they were keeping them. Before Steve had the chance to worry about them anymore, he spotted something up ahead.

He saw a figure dressed in black pacing back and forth in the snow, in front of a plane. Steve lowered himself and Bucky to the floor behind a rock, hidden from T’Challa.

“Stay here,” he whispered to Bucky as he started to stand back up. Before he could get anywhere, Bucky grabbed him by the arm and attempted to pull himself back up.

“Let me come with you,” he said. “We stand a better chance of taking him on if there’s two of us”

“You’re in no shape to fight right now Buck,” Steve said, as he brushed Bucky’s hand back off his arm.

Slowly, Steve crept around the rock, sneaking through the snow and coming up behind T’Challa. He didn’t know what he was going to do, he’d barely held his own against him last time, and he’d had his shield then. But, he knew he couldn’t fail, he had to win. There were people counting on him; Bucky was relying on him to get him out of Siberia and he was the only had Clint, Wanda, Sam and Scott had of getting out of wherever they’d been locked up.

He'd almost reached T’Challa, when he suddenly turned around and stared him down.

“Relax Captain,” he said as calm as ever. “I do not mean you or your friend any harm. I know now that he was innocent. I was tricked into trying to kill an innocent man out of vengeance, and for that, I am sorry”

Steve was lost for words. He didn’t see that coming. It took him a few moments to gather himself and begin to attempt to string a full sentence together.

“You urm… I urm… what?” Steve stuttered out. He blinked in confusion and stared at T’Challa for a few seconds longer.

“I understand your confusion Captain,” he said, slowly taking a step towards Steve. “What with everything that has happened over the last few days, I do not blame you for that, I would not trust me if I were in your position either. Especially with the part I played in locking up your friends”

At the mention of the others, Steve froze. He did his best to hide his worry over what had happened to them, but with all that had happened in the last few days, his heart was worn on his sleeve for everyone to see, including T’Challa.

“Where are they?” he asked after finally being able to compose himself. He looked T’Challa in the eye as he asked, desperate to see anything that might give away where his friends were hidden.

“Ross said they were being taken to a place known as the raft prison. I followed Tony Stark there. The whole place is fully submerged in the ocean and only rises when authorised aircrafts are about to land. I can help you in, if that will help to begin to make up to you for what I have done,” he said.

Steve was at a loss for what to say, but before he had to say anything, he got beaten to it.

“How do we know we can trust you?” came a voice from behind Steve.

Bucky moved up to stand beside Steve, limping the entire way. He went to cross his arms across his chest, realising half way through the action that it would be impossible and moving his one remaining arm back down to his side. T’Challa sighed as he looked at the pair, even after everything they had been through over the last few days and what had happened to their friends, they were as stubborn as ever.

“I believe if you were to come round here, you would find reason to trust me,” T’Challa said, stepping aside, allowing the other two to walk around the rock. There, on the floor lay an unconscious Zemo, his wrists bound together and a large bump appearing on the top of his head. Steve looked impressed.

“So, I’m guessing you heard his confession,” he asked, still staring at Zemo.

“I did,” T’Challa replied. “And if you do not mind me suggesting, I have a plan”

***

Ten minutes later, Steve and Bucky were back in the quinjet and in the air again. The plan was simple enough; all they had to do was fly back to Wakanda and wait for T’Challa to return. He had promised to alert the staff at his palace of their arrival and they would be greeted and given rooms, food and, most importantly, medical attention.

T’Challa was going to fly Zemo back to the UN in Berlin. He said that he would take Tony with him and would make sure that he made it home safely to the compound. Having Tony been taken care of was a huge weight off his shoulders. He wished he had been able to do more to help him after leaving him there, but he could not let him hurt Bucky. He thought he had lost him once before and he never wanted to go through that again. Never.

The GPS system in the quinjet alerted Steve that they were nearing the Wakandan palace. Steve gripped the control for the quinjet and began to lower it through the cloud layer.

“We’re nearly there now,” he said to Bucky. It was the first thing that either of them had said since they had gotten back on the quinjet, both too tired to talk. Bucky didn’t say anything, just grunted a response.

As the quinjet broke through the clouds, Steve couldn’t help but gasp at the sight in front of him. The palace was grand modern building built on a plateau of rock on the edge of a canyon. One side overlooked the canyon and gave a view of a large statue of a panther statue and then to the jungle beyond. On the other side, there was a long driveway leading through extensive grounds. In the distance, Steve could see the outlines of towns and villages dotting the African grassland.

Steve quickly found what he was looking for, a small runway next to a plane hangar on the edge of the palace grounds. He lowered the quinjet to the ground and drove it through the large metal doors and into the hangar. He switched off the engine and stood from the pilot’s seat.

“This is it Buck,” he said to Bucky. He walked through the quinjet and helped him stand up. The two of them walked down the now lowered ramp and towards the meeting party that had assembled beside the quinjet. One woman stood further forward than the rest of them

“Welcome to Wakanda,” she said as she walked towards them. “My name is Shuri. I am T’Challa’s sister. It is a pleasure to meet you”

She held her hand out to the two men. Steve took her hand and shook it.

“The pleasure is all ours,” he said. “I’m sorry about what happened to your father. I truly am. It’s horrible that he had to get caught up in some stupid plot for revenge”

Shuri looked down for a moment.

“It is unfortunate, and I will miss him. A lot,” she said, still looking at the ground. She shook herself, before straightening up and meeting Steve’s eyes again. “But the two of you were as much the victim in his plot as he was. My brother and I have spoken and we both agree that we wish to make sure that the both of you and your friends are all given safe refuge here in Wakanda. If you would like to follow me, I will show you to the palace. We have medical staff on hand to see to you”

She turned and began to walk out of the hangar doors. Steve and Bucky shared a look before following her. From the ground, the gardens were just as impressive. Beautiful green lawns spread all around them, with flowerbeds filled with brightly coloured flowers with rich scents. Shuri walked ahead of Steve and Bucky, never once stumbling in her high heels on the gravel path. Within a couple of minutes, they were walking off the path and onto a patio. Two smartly dressed servants opened the double doors and she carried on walking inside. A few steps in, she stopped and turned on her heel to look at those that were following her.

“You may leave us now,” she said to the rest of the welcoming party. She made a shooing gesture with her hand. “Go on, leave”

They scurried away from her, leaving her alone with Steve and Bucky.

“Come,” she said. “The medical centre is this way”

And with that, she turned and walked through another set of double doors. Steve and Bucky followed her to see a state of the art medical facility. One doctor immediately went up to Bucky and asked him to come with him, his eyes scanning him up and down, checking for any more injuries besides the obvious ones. Bucky looked back at Steve, who nodded at him, before he went with the doctor. Shuri turned to face Steve.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” she asked.

Steve thought for a moment.

“This is going to sound weird, but I need a pen, paper, an envelope and two burner phones”

Shuri looked at him in confusion for a few moments.

“I’ll see what I can do”

***

By the time Steve had finished writing the letter, T’Challa had returned from the UN. Steve looked up from the desk he had sat at. Before he could start talking, T’Challa started.

“Do not worry about your friend Captain,” he said. “I made sure he was on the first flight out of Berlin and back to America as soon as I arrived. I got the message to say that he’d safely returned to the compound”

“Thank you,” Steve said, looking back down at the letter and phone in his hand. “May I ask a favour of you?”

“Of course”

“I need these mailing to Tony,” he said, holding them out to T’Challa, who took them from him, along with another sheet of paper. “The phone has only one number in it, and I have the phone for that number. The letter explains what the phone is for, to show that I don’t want to leave things as they are and that I’m not bitter. The other piece of paper has the name and address to send it to”

T’Challa studied the items in his hands for a few seconds before looking back at Steve.

“You want it to be sent to ‘Tony Stank’?” he asked.

Steve smirked a little.

“Well, maybe I am a little bitter”

“I will have these sent right away,” T’Challa said, beginning to walk out of the room. “And then we make plans to rescue your friends”

Steve looked at the large monitor set up on the opposite wall. It showed live feeds of what was happening inside the raft prison. He looked at Sam and Scott sitting in their cells, Clint yelling at the guards to let Wanda go and Wanda who was just sat staring at nothing, motionless, only the soft rise and fall of her shoulders a sign that she was a living being and not just a statue.

They were his team and he was coming for them. And nobody was going to stop him.

Nobody.


	2. The Rescue Mission

“You both remember the plan?” T’Challa asked Steve and Bucky as he checked the weapons for the fifth time since they’d left Wakanda.

“Shuri flies the quinjet in with your clearance. She stays on board ready to make a quick escape. I guard the plane. You and Steve fight together as far as the control room. You shut down the controls and Steve frees the others,” Bucky said from where he was sat to one side of the jet. “It’s simple really”

Steve smirked and looked over Shuri’s shoulder and down at the approaching raft prion, a large piece of metal rising up from the calm blue of the ocean surrounding it. Shuri sighed at hearing the plan again.

“Remind me why I have to be the one who waits on the jet?” she asked her brother.7

“Because I am your older brother and your king and you do as I say,” he called back to her. “Besides, you lost”

“Rock, paper, scissors,” Shuri said to Steve who was still stood behind her. “He cheats, he always cheats”

Steve smirked at her again, before walking back to T’Challa and Bucky as the jet began its final descent into the raft prison.

Steve and Bucky ducked out of sight as the quinjet touched the ground. A small whirring sound came as the ramp lowered and the sound of T’Challa’s footsteps echoed through the jet as he walked down to meet whoever was in charge of the prison.

“Your majesty,” came an unfamiliar voice. “Welcome to the raft prison. May I ask your reason for visiting today?”

“Oh,” T’Challa said. Steve could hear the smirk in his voice. “I brought some friends with me”

Steve could see the guards blinking in confusion in the reflection rom the pilot’s window. Shuri caught Steve’s gaze in the window and smirked at him, her eyebrows arching up in amusement.

“Wait, w-w-what do you mean by ‘some friends’?” the confused guard managed to stammer out.

“You two coming?” T’Challa called back into the quinjet.

Steve nodded at Bucky and the two of them leapt out from where they were hiding. Steve pointed the large gun at the guards. He had no intention of using it, aside from a few non-fatal shots to the knees and maybe a few hits to the head with the barrel. But the guards didn’t know that.

“Oh,” the guard at the front said. He looked to the three guards behind him. Two of them remained frozen and the other shrugged. He panicked, dropped his gun and threw his hands up into the air.  “We surrender, don’t we?”

The three guards behind him quickly followed his lead and dropped their guns, throwing their hands in the air. Steve, Bucky, T’Challa and Shuri all turned to look at each other in confusion.

“Well,” Shuri said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “That was pretty easy”

***

They left three of the guards tied up by the quinjet, Shuri standing guard. The other guard led the boys down a corridor towards the central control room. When they reached the end of the corridor, the guard pressed a button on a control panel and a small speaker crackled to life.

“Michaels, that you?” came a voice from the speaker.

“Erm,” the guard, now known as Michaels, stammered. Steve pushed the barrel of the gun into Michaels’ back. “Erm, yeah. It’s me. Michaels, Geoffrey. I’ve got the king of Wakanda with me, mind letting us in?”

A green light lit up above the speaker and there was a clicking sound as the lock to the door was released. Michaels pushed the door and it swung open to reveal a room full of guards. The second they spotted Steve and Bucky, all the guns in the room were pointed right at them. Michaels grinned sheepishly at them.

“When I said I had the king of Wakanda, I forgot to mention that he’d brought Captain America and the Winter Soldier with him,”

Before anyone else in the room had a chance to react, Michaels swung a punch at the guard nearest to him. There was a loud crunch as the guard’s nose broke and he crumpled to the floor unconscious. Michaels grabbed his gun and fired shots to the knees of two guards who were running towards him.

Steve snapped out of his momentary stunned shock and quickly blocked the punch of the guard that was coming for him. He threw him towards T’Challa who quickly knocked his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground and knocking over three more guards. Steve looked around the room and saw Bucky rifling through the pockets of the unconscious guards’ pockets.

“Buck,” Steve asked. “What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for,” Bucky stopped abruptly and grinned. He turned back round to face Steve and T’Challa, a set of keys dangling from his hand. “These”

***

Clint lay down on his bed in his cell, staring at the ceiling. From where he was lying, he could see Scott in the cell opposite him, drumming away on a small metal stall, whistling away to himself. Clint couldn’t see Sam, but he could hear him pacing around his cell. He didn’t know where Wanda was, but he had to hope that she was okay.

She had to be okay. It was his fault that she was involved in this mess, he was the one that got her from the compound. It was never meant to go like this, this wasn’t the plan. He was meant to go get her, help Steve and then take her back to the farm house to stay with him Laura and the kids. That was the plan he and Laura had come up with. Take her back and give her the home she needed. Look how well that went.

He was torn away from his thoughts by the sound of fighting above his head. He stood up, looking at the ceiling as louds thuds made the whole room shake. Clint winced at the sound of bones breaking came along with the familiar bangs of people hitting walls. After less than a minute, the fighting stopped. Clint could hear voices, but the sound was too muffled through the thick iron separating the two floors to make out who was speaking.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on upstairs?” Scott asked.

“It might be Steve,” Sam replied. Clint could see Scott stand up and come to the front of his cell like the other two.

“If it Steve,” Clint said. “I hope he’s found Wanda, she’s just a kid”

Before anyone else could speak, the sound of footsteps on the metal stairs leading down from the control room to the holding room they were being kept in echoed into the room. A key turned in the lock and the door swung open. Even in the dim light, Clint could clearly see Steve come through the door. From behind him, Bucky quickly followed through the door, although it seemed that he was missing an arm. Another figure followed them into the room. It was T’Challa, the king of Wakanda, what was he doing here? But it was just the three of them, no Wanda. They still had to find her before they left, and there was no way that Clint was leaving without her.

“Hello,” Scott called out. “Who’s there?”

Clint realised that the others hadn’t seen who was there. He smirked a little, looking forward to seeing the others’ reactions to seeing their rescuers. Steve stepped forward into the light so the others could see him. Sam started whooping and cheering when he saw who it was. Scott made the same excited fangirl gasp that Lila made when she met Elsa at Disney world last year.

“Hey, Tic-Tac, calm down,” Sam said. Clearly Clint hadn’t been the only one to hear Scott’s reaction. “No need to think him for thanking of you this time”

Steve looked over at Clint and shook his head a little as he walked over to the door of Clint’s cell. He unlocked the door and Clint happily jumped out of his cell and into the larger room. He walked past Steve, who went to let the others out, and over to T’Challa and Bucky.

“Do either of you know where Wanda is?” he asked the two of them. Bucky and T’Challa looked at each other, neither of them answering his question.

“They don’t,” said a new voice. Clint looked behind Bucky and T’Challa to see one of the prison guards stood in the doorway leading to the stairs. “But I do. They kept her somewhere else. Said she needed to be locked away extra tightly, because she was dangerous. I didn’t believe them. She’s just a kid”

Clint stared at the guard. He didn’t even care who he was at that moment in time, or that he was one of the guards that had kept them locked up at the bottom of the ocean. All he cared that was he knew where Wanda was. Clint looked back over his shoulder to see how far the others had gotten. Sam was out of his cell and Scott was just walking out of his. Clint turned back to the guard.

“Prove it,” he said. “Take us to Wanda”

***

The guard, who’d now been introduced to them as Michaels, led the six other men down the corridor. Clint followed straight behind him, Steve and Bucky behind him, then Sam, then Scott with T’Challa bringing up the rear.

“I’ve got to ask, but why help us?” Steve asked Michaels. “I mean, you’re going to get into a lot of trouble for this. So why bother?”

“Because what they’re doing here is wrong. And I can’t be a part of it,” he replied. “I signed up to help keep the crazy people who were trying to destroy the world locked up. Not the people saving it. The second I found out they were bringing you guys here, I requested a transfer. Didn’t want to be involved with locking up superheroes. And what they’ve done with Wanda is the worst. I mean, how old is she anyway?”

“She’s nineteen,” Clint said. “She’s just a kid”

“She’s the same age as my little sister,” Michaels said with a sigh. “If anyone locked her away in a place like this, I’d be furious. I had to help you guys, it was the right thing to do. Besides, I got to help Captain America and his whole team of superheroes. Eight year old me would be so jealous”

By now, they’d reached the door at the end of the corridor. Michaels swiped a key card through a card reader. A small green light lit up above the card reader and there was a clicking as the lock was released. Michaels slowly slid the heavy metal door open. Clint shoved him out of way and burst into the room, the others quickly following him. One guard stood on the right side of the room, holding a small device in his hand. Wanda was sat on a bench in a cell on the left side of the room. Her arms were trapped inside a straight-jacket and there was a flashing red light on the side of her neck. Clint’s heart leapt to his throat as he realised it was a shock collar.

“Wanda,” Clint called out softly. “You’re going to be okay. Look at me. Steve’s come for us and you’re going to be okay, we all are”

Wanda didn’t move or attempt to look over at Clint in anyway. She carried on staring at the ground on the floor in front of her. Her skin looked pale and there were red marks around her neck. Her eyes looked red and puffy as if she’d been crying. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the shock collar had been used.

“Leave or I will use this,” said the guard, waving the device, which Clint had realised was the remote for the shock collar, around.

Steve slowly took a step towards the guard, holding his hands out as a sign of peace.

“We don’t want to hurt you and I know that you don’t really want to her,” Steve said.

“You don’t know that!” the guard snapped. Clint could hear the fear in his voice, he was scared of them. But right now, he didn’t care. Getting Wanda out of here was his only concern.

“Hey, kid, take it easy,” Steve said, taking another step towards him. “You don’t look that old, not much older than her in fact. So, I’m guessing this is one of your first jobs and you’ve got your orders and you really don’t want to let your bosses down. And I get that, sorta. But sometimes, you’ve have to go against those orders and do what is right because at the end of the day, it’s you, not them, that has to live with what you’ve done to her”

For a second, Clint thought it had worked. The guard began to lower the remote, his hand releasing slightly from around the buttons that would activate the collar. Steve reached out his hand to take the remote from him, when all of a sudden, he jerked his hand back again.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But like you said, I’ve got my orders”

He pressed down hard on the button. Wanda cried out in pain, hunching in on herself even more. Clint snapped. He lunged out and in one swift motion he managed to knock the guard out and snatch the remote. He threw the remote onto the ground and brought his heel down hard on it, smashing it to pieces against the cold concrete floor.

“Wanda!” he called. “Wanda, are you okay? Wanda. Speak to please, speak to me”

He rushed over to her cell and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

“Give me a moment,” said Michaels. “I’m sure the guard has the keys”

T’Challa didn’t wait for the keys. He raised his leg up and aimed a kick at the door. With one kick, he was able to smash the lock and the door swung open. Clint rushed and went straight to Wanda’s side. She was still breathing heavily and crying from the pain of the shock collar being activated.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Clint said in a soothing tone, rubbing her back to reassure her. “It’s okay, we’re going to get this thing off of you and you’re going to be alright”

The lights from the collar had stopped flashing and had turned off, as if the collar had been disarmed when Clint smashed the remote. It came away quickly from her neck in his hands. He quickly ripped through the material on the back of the straight jacket, not bothering to undo all the straps on the back. He helped her untangle her arms from the jacket. Underneath she was wearing the same prison uniform as they were. The second her arms were free from the jacket, they went back to hugging her sides, as they had been before.

“Wanda,” Clint said calmly. “You don’t have to talk to me, just nod and shake your head, okay?”

Wanda nodded her head.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head.

“Do you want to leave?”

She nodded.

“Okay, can you stand?”

She nodded. Clint stood up and Wanda began to follow him. She was about half way to standing up when her legs gave out underneath her. She crashed to the ground, crying out as she hit the floor. Clint lowered himself down next to her.

“Do you want my help?”

She nodded. Clint scooped her up into his arms and stood back up. He turned around to the others, who’d stood silently watching the two of them.

“Are we leaving now?”

T’Challa grinned and pulled out a small black comms device from his pocket and held it up to his ear.

“Shuri? You there?” he asked. He paused for a few moments, rolling his eyes at whatever Shuri had said to him. “We’ve got everyone. Ready the quinjet, we’re coming back.

***

The jet’s engines were already on and waiting to go by the time everyone had gotten back up. T’Challa was the first one onto the jet, running up to speak to his sister. Bucky, Scott and Sam weren’t far behind him. Steve had been running up with them, but hung back when he reached the ramp, waiting for Clint, who was still carrying Wanda. Michaels brought up the back of the group. He stopped when he reached the base of the ramp and held his hand out to Steve.

“It has been an honour to help you Captain,” he said, as Steve shook his hand. “But, this is where I say goodbye to you all. Hopefully they won’t be too harsh when punishing me, but I did just aid in the prison break of four international criminals”

He trailed off awkwardly, leaving an uncomfortable silence between them all. T’Challa walked back out of the quinjet and back to where they were stood.

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” he said. “Wakanda is offering safe refuge to Captain Rogers and his team. We can offer the same to you”

Michaels looked stunned for a few seconds, blinking several times out of confusion.

“Thank you, your majesty, that would be amazing, thank you,” he managed to stammer out.

He followed T’Challa into the jet and took a seat next to Scott. Clint and Steve followed him inside. Clint carefully lowered Wanda into a seat on the opposite side of the jet to where the boys had sat. He went to move away, to go and speak with the others and make sure that they were all okay as well, when he felt a tight tug on his shirt. He turned around and looked back down to see Wanda staring back up at him, her hand clinging on tight to his prison uniform. She didn’t say anything, but he could see the silent pleading in her eyes.

“You want me to stay?”

She nodded. Clint sat down in the seat next to her, and she leant against his side, tucking her legs up onto the seat next to her. Clint wrapped an arm around her and slowly felt her breathing begin to even out as she drifted off to sleep, probably for the first time she’d allowed herself to do so in days.

“Everyone ready?” Shuri asked from the front of the quinjet. A small chorus of yeahs answered her. “Right then, back to Wakanda”

And with that, the quinjet rose up from the landing pad of the raft prison and up into the air. From the window, Clint watched as it disappeared over the horizon as they left, for good.


	3. Wakanda

Wanda slept the entire jet ride back to Wakanda. She slept curled up on the seat at the side of the jet, leaning on Clint’s side. He kept his arm wrapped around her, his head resting on top of hers. He spoke quietly with the others as they flew over the water, barely taking it in. He was just thankful that Steve had been able to break them out, especially Wanda. They’d treated her like an animal, and he had no clue. It was his fault. He knew that she would disagree with him, she’d tell him that it was her choice to get involved. But without him, she would have never left the compound, would never have been in the fight and she would never have ended up in the prison.

“Hey, hey Clint”

The sound of Sam’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He tore his gaze away from Wanda and looked at Sam, who’d come over to Clint’s side of the jet.

“We’re gonna be landing in a few minutes”

Scott, Steve, T’Challa and Michaels were stood at the back of the jet, as if they were waiting for the door to open and the ramp to drop down. At the front of the jet, Shuri was making the final landing preparations. Sam smiled at Clint, before walking off to join the others at the back of the jet. Clint looked down at Wanda and gently shook her awake. She froze for a moment, her fists clenching and small red lights shot from her fingertips and scattered all over the floor. After a few seconds, she relaxed as she realised where she was. looking up, she locked eyes with Clint.

“Hey, it’s just me,” he said in the same soothing tone that he used to calm his other children. “We’re getting off in a few minutes, you okay?”

She nodded and began to stand up, stumbling slightly as she went to join the others. Clint frowned at her. She was still having trouble walking and hadn’t said anything since they’d left the raft prison. She wasn’t the most talkative person world most of the time, but even so, this was still worrying. She turned back to look at Clint, worry crossing her face when she saw him frowning. He smiled back at her and followed her over to where she was stood with the others. He felt the familiar shudder of the jet as it touched the ground. The ramp lowered, the warm Wakandan sunlight spilling into the jet. A group of Wakandan officials were stood waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp, files in hand, most likely for T’Challa and Shuri. Hanging back a few feet away from them was a group of medics, a couple of trolleys at the ready for any emergencies. T’Challa was the first down the ramp. He was immediately crowded by the officials, all speaking rapidly and opening files and showing him official looking documents.

“And that’s the last of my brother we’ll see for a while now,” came Shuri’s voice from behind them. She walked off the jet and motioned for the others to follow her. The medic group in the corner began to hurry over towards them. Shuri put up her hand to stop them. “I’m sure they are all fully capable to walk themselves medical centre”

The medic group awkwardly froze and began to back away. Steve and Bucky began to follow Shuri out of the hangar. Sam bounded after them, a new spring in his step after having been broken out of the raft prison.

“C’mon Tic Tac,” he called back to Scott, who scuttled after him like a lost puppy. Clint grabbed Wanda’s hand. She stared up at him in surprise.

“Let’s go kid, the others are leaving us behind,” he said with a grin. She didn’t say anything back to him, just gave him a small smile and allowed him to lead her of the jet and out of the hangar.

***

Clint and Wanda followed the others through the grounds of the palace and through large grand doors towards a medical centre, Wanda never once letting go of Clint’s hand. Several small groups began to approach them small private rooms surrounding the main entrance. Steve and Bucky walked off to two of the rooms and Sam, Scott and Michaels allowed the doctors to lead them away. The two other groups cautiously approached Clint and Wanda, who was half hidden behind Clint.

“If you would like to follow me to your rooms,” said one of the doctors with a warm smile. “Once you have received treatment for your injuries, you will be taken to some more comfortable quarters together. Mr Barton follow me please and Miss Maximoff, could you go with my colleague here, thank you”

Just as Clint was about to walk after the doctor, he felt Wanda’s grip on his hand tighten, stopping him from being able to walk away from her. He looked back at her to see why she’d stopped him from leaving. Her head was ducked down and although she’d managed to keep her face blank and emotionless, her eyes gave it all away: she was terrified.

“Could you excuse us for a moment,” he said to the doctors, leading Wanda away from them. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, not looking up to make eye contact with him.

“You scared?” he asked. She nodded and Clint sighed. “Listen, I know that everything that has happened over the last days has been rough for me, so I can’t even begin to imagine what it has been like for you. But what I do know is that these people are just trying to help us. And I know you don’t want to, but you have let them. If someone doesn’t treat those open wounds on your neck, they’re going to become infected and then you’re going to get really sick, which is probably the worst thing that could happen to you right now. So you’re going to let them help you and then I will see you back at these quarters they’ve promised us, okay?”

Wanda still didn’t say anything. She wouldn’t meet Clint’s eyes, just kept staring at the ground. She shifted uncomfortably and chewed on the inside of her mouth. She had one arm wrapped around herself, the other held in front of her, her hand still gripping Clint’s.

“Do you want me to stay with you instead?” he asked her. She started to nod before he’d even finished his sentence. She finally looked up at him, the look of terror disappearing from her eyes instantly. The corner of her lips tugged upwards with the faintest hint of a smile. He grinned back at her and the two of them walked back over to the group of doctors.

“Change of plan guys,” Clint announced to the group. “She’s staying with me; which way do we go?”

The doctors exchanged a few looks, somewhere between confused and panicked, before the first doctor approached them.

“Certainly Mr Barton, right this way”

***

Clint watched Wanda from a few feet away as various doctors bustled around the two of them. Even though they’d been able to stay in the same room, the doctors still needed room to work. Clint had made sure he was sat as close as he could be to Wanda. She looked up and met his eyes. He gave her a warm smile, but she could only manage a nervous grimace back. She winced as the doctors moved her head to one side to treat the gaping red sores that ringed her neck. Slowly, the large crowd of doctors and nurses began to trickle out of the room until there was only the one who’d first spoken to Clint was left. She looked between the two of them and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud yawn. Clint and the doctor turned to look at Wanda, who blushed bright red.

“If you’re tired, you can go to sleep, if you want,” Clint told her. She nodded and curled up on her side. Clint watched as her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing evened out. She was sound asleep within less than a minute.

“Poor kid,” the doctor said, turning back to Clint. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. I guess this would be best coming from you”

Clint tore his gaze away from Wanda to look at the doctor.

“What?” he snapped. “What do you mean ‘best coming from me’?”

She shifted on her feet uncomfortably, before turning back to look at Clint.

“There is the possibility that the burn marks on her neck will leave permanent marks,” she said. Clint inhaled sharply, slowly nodding his head as he processed the new information. “Like I said, it will probably be better coming from you”

Clint looked away from her and through the frosted glass. On the other side, he could see Steve and Bucky. Bucky was sat on the bed, rubbing the stump where his metal arm once was. He was talking to Steve, who was pacing up and down the room. Clint couldn’t hear what they were talking about and the frosted glass meant he couldn’t read their lips, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Clint sighed and turned back to face the doctor.

“You’re probably right,” he said. “Best coming from me. Do you know where the others are?”

“I believe that Mr Lang and Mr Scott went up to the quarters that King T’Challa arranged for you all. If you would like, I can wake Miss Maximoff and take you both there now”

“No, no. You don’t need to do that,” Clint protested. The doctor looked at him in confusion as he strode across the room towards Wanda. He gently scooped her off the bed, one arm under leg and the other holding her back. She didn’t wake up, only nestled her head into his side. “Lead the way”

***

When Wanda woke up, she was no longer in the medical facility. Instead, she was in a large plush bed with satin sheets and what felt like more pillows than she’d ever see before in her life. Large floor to ceiling glass windows stretched across one side of the room, giving her a view of a canyon filled with waterfalls and the jungle stretching beyond. On the wall next to her bed was an open door leading to a luxury ensuite bathroom. Directly opposite her bed was another door, but this one was closed. From the other side, she could hear the sounds of people talking and laughing. All of a sudden, the voices on the other side stopped. A pair of footsteps echoed towards her door. She sat herself up in bed quickly, her eyes searching the room for anything that she could use to throw at any possible attacker. Someone knocked on the door.

“Wanda?”. It was Clint. The door creaked open and Clint stuck his head round the door. “I remembered to knock this time”. He slid into the room quietly, gently shutting the door behind him. He padded across the room. His hair was slightly damp and he’d changed into a purple t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He sat down near her on the bed and placed his hand over the top of hers. “Are you okay?”

She nodded her head.

“Still not feeling up to talking much are you?”. He looked away for a moment. Even without trying to read him, she could feel him bracing himself for whatever he was about to say next. “I know you won’t want to hear this, but the doctor told me that it that the burns on your neck will leave a mark,” he trailed off. She felt her eyes widen in shock as she stared at him. Her hand crept up to her neck and rubbed at the bandages wrapped around. Clint rubbed her arm.

“There’s a bathroom over there and some clean clothes in the closet. Why don’t you go freshen up, get dressed and meet the rest outside, okay?”

Wanda nodded and Clint smiled at her before walking out of the room.

***

When Wanda came out of her room to the others, only three of them were there. Sam was lounging on a sofa laughing at the other two, who were having a darts competition, not that there was any chance for Scott to win

“There she is,” Scott announced. He sat up slid over to one side and patted the space next to him. “Come sit down kid”. Wanda sat down next to him. He grinned at her and went to pat her arm. She flinched away from his touch and he recoiled his hand. “Sorry, I guess I should’ve thought that through”

Clint came over and threw himself down next to Wanda. He stuck his arm out and she leaned into his side. Sam glared at her. “Oh, I see. He’s cool, but I’m not. I get it, I get it”. Wanda gently kicked him in the shin, and he through his hand up to his chest and gasped in mock offense. Wanda grinned at him. She looked around the room for any sign of Steve, Bucky or Michaels.

“Steve and Bucky went to talk T’Challa about something, they didn’t say what,” Clint told her, almost as if he could read her thoughts. “No idea where Michaels is though”

“Last I saw, he was really hitting it off with one of the doctors,” Scott called over from where he was stood near the darts board. “I think he even managed to get the guy’s phone number”

“Well, good for him,” Clint said. Before anyone else could say anything, the door opened and Steve walked in with T’Challa. Sam immediately straightened up in his seat and Scott stopped throwing the darts. From next to her, Wanda felt Clint tense up. Something was wrong, and they could all tell.

“Steve,” Sam said quietly. “Where’s Bucky?”. Steve didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground.

“He decided to back into cryo until we can find a way until to remove whatever Hydra did to him from his mind,” T’Challa spoke up. “I already have a team of my top scientists working on it. If you wish, you may all stay here for as long as you require. I’ll leave you to discuss what you want to do next”. He turned and calmly walked out of the room, leaving them alone again.

“Steve, I’m so sorry,” Clint said, breaking the silence. Steve walked over to an empty armchair and slumped down in it. He sighed and held his head in his hands. After a few seconds, he looked back up at them again.

“I’m guessing you guys don’t actually want to stay here then?” Steve asked. They all exchanged looks before turning back to Steve. “Well I guess that settles it then. But where do we go?”

“I’m sure Clint has a few old ones from his good old days at S.H.I.E.L.D., right buddy,” Sam said, reaching over to poke him.

“I’m sure I can think of something,” he replied. He briefly glanced over at Wanda. “But right now, I’m tired. Everyone get some sleep. We leave in the morning”


	4. Home

“Are we nearly there yet?” Scott whined from the back of the quinjet.

“Yes,” Clint hissed through gritted teeth. They’d left Wakanda almost nine hours ago. Unlike when they’d left the raft prison, they were all well rested and nobody had felt the need to sleep the entire ride. Unfortunately, this meant that they’d gotten bored pretty quickly.

“Tic-Tac, you sound like a five-year-old,” Sam complained.

 “That was actually a perfect impression of my daughter Cassie on long car rides, and she’s six, so ha,” Scott laughed, sticking his tongue out.

“My mistake,” Sam apologised. “Tic-Tac, you sound like a six-year-old”

“Thank you”

“Okay children,” Clint called from the front of the quinjet. “We’re here. Welcome to Waverly, Iowa”

Sam walked up to the front of the jet and looked at the house through the window. “Hey Birdbrain, I don’t mean to worry you, but there’s a load of lights on in that house, I think someone else is here”

Clint didn’t say anything, just smirked as Sam walked away. Steve waited a few moments for Sam to get out of earshot, before joining Clint at the front of the jet.

“Clint, I can’t ask you to do this,” he protested. “It’s too dangerous. I don’t want to put them in any danger”

“Well, then it’s a good thing you won’t be,” Clint pointed out. “This place technically doesn’t even exist and there is no record of me or anyone else being connected to Laura and the kids. They were never mentioned on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s records, so they’ve been safe ever since that fiasco. In fact, won’t they be even safer with us here? So we can fight anyone who does manage to trace us to them”. Steve considered what he’d said for a moment before nodding. “And besides, I’m sure Lila and Cooper will be over the moon to see their Uncle Steve”. Steve couldn’t help but smile at that. Much like everyone else, Clint’s children had immediately stolen his heart and it had been months since he’d last seen them over Christmas.

The jet touched the ground and the two men walked away from the front of the jet. Steve went to help Scott and Sam grab the bags of clothes and food T’Challa had given them before they’d left Wakanda. Clint went to Wanda, who was hovering where the ramp was waiting to be lowered. Clint flicked a switch and led her down the ramp and back into the open air. He watched her as she stared at the farmhouse, seeing her face light up when she recognised where they were.

She turned to him grinning. “Home”. It was the first thing he’d heard her say since they’d left the Raft. He nodded, now grinning himself. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and he was quick to hug the girl back.

“You sure this is safe?” Sam demanded as he and the other two came down the ramp. Clint turned to stare Sam dead in the eye.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he told them as he pressed a few buttons on the side of the jet. The ramp raised itself up, closing the jet and leaving the five of them stood out in the cool night air. “This way”. Clint began to walk across the field towards the farmhouse, Wanda still stood by his side. Steve followed the two of them and Sam and Scott kept up with him.

“You know where we are, don’t you?” Sam asked. Steve nodded. “You planning on telling us?”

“It’s not my place,” Steve replied. Sam and Scott exchanged confused looks behind his back.

The group were only a few metres away from the farmhouse when they heard the click of a gun. A figure came out of the shadows, holding the gun towards them.

“I don’t know who you are,” she hissed. “But stay the hell away from my children”

“Laura,” Clint called out softly. He took a step forward into the light so that she could see him. “I’ve got company. Sorry I didn’t call ahead”

Laura stared at him in shock before putting the gun down on a bench on the porch. She ran down the steps towards him and Clint rushed towards her, the two of them meeting in the middle. Laura threw herself at Clint and the two clung onto each other as if their lives depended on it.

“I didn’t know if you were going to be able to come back,” she whispered. “I thought you were still locked up, they never said on the news that you’d gotten out”. Clint could feel a damp patch begin to form on his shoulder and didn’t doubt that a similar one was beginning to form on hers.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered back. “But I’m back now. And I kept my promise, I did what you told me”. Laura pulled back for a second to look at him in confusion. “I got Wanda, like you said”. Laura let go of Clint and took a few steps towards Wanda, who had hung back with the boys when Clint had gone to Laura. She reached out to the girl and pulled her into a hug.

“That’s weird,” Sam muttered to Scott. “She wouldn’t let us touch her at all but she’s letting that woman hug her. Who is she?”. Scott shrugged and Steve smirked. It felt nice to be in the know for once.

“Mom, what’s going on?” came a small sleepy voice from the door. The little girl who had appeared at the door looked around at the group of people, rubbing her eyes. Her gaze fell on Clint and she gasped. “Dad!” she cried out as she ran towards him. Clint laughed and scooped her up as she reached him, pressing a kiss to the giggling girl’s cheek.

“Mom, Nathaniel’s woken- Dad!”. Another kid had appeared at the door, this time a boy, a little older than the girl before. He too ran at Clint, latching his arms around the man’s legs.

Laura released Wanda and turned to Clint. “I’d better go see to Nathaniel”. She turned back to Wanda, do you want to come in sweetie, your room’s as you left it”. Wanda nodded and followed Laura back into the house.

“Her room?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, she stayed with us for a few days after what happened in Lagos,” Clint explained. “But she’s here so often that she laid claim to the guest room that Nat hadn’t already taken”

“Hi, I know we’ve not known each other very long, but where exactly is ‘here’?” Scott asked.

“Welcome to la casa de Barton,” Clint introduced. Steve shook his head at his friends over dramatics. “That was my wife Laura, and these are our eldest two, Cooper and Lila. Nathaniel is only eight months old”

“Wife, kids,” Sam muttered, beginning to stumble around a bit.

“Sam, are you okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. Steve dropped the bags he was holding and ran and caught Sam just before he hit the ground.

“What happened?” Laura asked as she came back out, holding Nathaniel.

“Apparently the idea of me having a stable family life is too much for Sam’s poor brain to handle and he passed out,” Clint ‘explained’. Laura came up behind him and hit him upside the head. “I mean, he’s probably just tired and so that’s why he passed out”

“Steve, you know where the spare room is, don’t you?” Laura asked. Steve nodded, still holding Sam. “Take him up there and stick him in the bed. You and Scott can fight it out over who has to share the bed and who gets the sofa, we’ll sort out proper sleeping arrangements tomorrow, but for now, bed”

“Yes ma’am,” Steve replied as he carried Sam into the house. Scott attempted to pick up all the bags and follow them in.

“Kid’s, help your Dad and Scott carry all those bags in,” Laura instructed. Lila and Cooper nodded and ran to help Scott, Clint not far behind. “Just dump them in the living room, we’ll deal with them in the morning. Now bed, all of you”

Lila and Cooper nodded and ran off upstairs. Scott hung back for a moment.

“Which room is the spare room?” he asked.

“I’ll show you,” she offered and began to walk up the stairs. “Clint, lock up would you”

Clint dumped the last of the bags in the living room and went round, making sure all the lights were off and all the windows and doors were locked and shut, before heading on upstairs as well. He paused outside Wanda’s room for a moment. She was already asleep on the bed. She hadn’t gotten under the covers, just grabbed the blanket from the chair and wrapped herself up in that. Clint turned her light off before waking into his and Laura’s room. She was already back in bed, the only light being the lamp on his side of the bed. He climbed in next to her and turned off the lights, before pulling her close. It was good to be home.

***

“And that’s how we got here,” Clint finished.

Nat, Bruce, Thor and Tony all stared at him as they took in the story they’d just been told. At some point, Thor had gone to sit next to them, meaning all four of them were squished onto the sofa bed.

“So, can I stay?” Tony asked. He pointed to the massive suitcase he’d brought in with him. “I brought presents”

Laura looked over at Clint, who shrugged at her. “Of course you can”

Tony’s face lit up. “Thank you! I guess I’ll see everyone in the morning once Santa has been”

Nat grinned at him and held up a high-tech camera. “And we caught him on camera for the kids to see. It’s Steve and his elves Scott and Sam,” she explained when she saw Tony’s confused expression.

“But where is he going to sleep?” Sam asked.

“On the bed I just set up in the other room with Thor’s,” Scott offered. Everyone stared at him in confusion. “I went to put it up like half an hour ago. I went and got sheets and everything. And none of you noticed. I am feeling very loved right now”

The others just shook their heads at Scott’s antics, before all heading off to bed, looking forward to the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realise that Marvel had cancelled Unstoppable Wasp until I reached the end of the last issue. I'm already missing Nadia Pym and I'm really hoping that she joins Champions (fingers crossed). 
> 
> Can safely say that's she's going to be showing up at some point soon in this universe, most likely in The Next Generation, which I'll be posting in a couple of days.


End file.
